Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman & Tyler Rogoway
The U.S. military isn’t currently interested in fielding kinetic and directed energy capabilities, such as laser and high-power microwave weapons, surface-to-air interceptors, and gun systems, for defending domestic bases and other critical infrastructure from rapidly growing and evolving drone threats. Instead, the focus is on electronic warfare and cyber warfare, and other ‘soft-kill’ options, at least for the time being.
Still often confusing legal and regulatory hurdles that limit how and when counter-drone systems of any kind can be employed within the homeland are key drivers behind the U.S. military’s current plans. Concerns about risks of collateral damage resulting from the use of anti-drone capabilities factor in heavily, too. This all, in turn, raises questions about the potential for serious gaps in the currently allowable but still largely non-existent domestic drone defense ecosystem.
U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) Deputy Test Director Jason Mayes spoke yesterday about these plans and related issues with a small group of reporters including from The War Zone at Falcon Peak 2025, a counter-drone experiment at Peterson Space Force Base. NORTHCOM is headquartered at Peterson, as is the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and the two share the same commander.
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